Microsoft's IT security plans spark controversy

For 20 years, Microsoft Corp. has made the software on which hackers feast. Now, after three years of planning and several acquisitions, it's sending shudders through the industry as it prepares to move into the expanding market for security.

Bill Gates, Microsoft's chairman and chief software architect, confirmed last week that the company will offer free anti-spyware software and sell an anti-virus product. The news, which was widely anticipated, set the information technology world buzzing nonetheless. Analysts voiced concern over a possible anti-trust backlash to the world's largest software company's expansion plans.